The Court of Appeal has ruled that regulators do not owe a duty of care to individual private litigants in respect to the acts of professionals governed by that regulator.
In the case the plaintiff claimed damages for negligence and breach of duty arising from what she contended was the failure of the Law Society of Ireland to properly to monitor certain undertakings given by her solicitor, as well as its supposed failure to police, control or inspect certain correspondence written by the solicitor. The court rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the Law Society should be held liable. Judge Gilligan struck out the proceedings on the basis of the inherent jurisdiction of the court. In making the order he noted that the plaintiff had not made a complaint to the Law Society regarding any alleged misconduct on the part of her solicitor or that he had been guilty of providing inadequate legal services. Further the proceedings disclosed no reasonable cause of action and she had failed to identify any loss or damage which she had suffered as a result of any alleged failures on the part of the Society.
In dismissing the appeal the Court of Appeal stated that there was no previous case law to support the idea that a regulator should owe a duty of care to a member of the public in relation to specific acts of a regulated professional. In delivering his judgement Justice Hogan stated were such a duty to exist it “would be tantamount to making the Law Society vicariously liable for the actions of all solicitors at the suit of all clients, irrespective of the circumstances. That proposition is no more suitable than, for example, the suggestion that the Medical Council should field responsibility for every clinical decision of a registered medical practitioner”.
For a copy of the judgement please click here.
Further commentary on the decision can be accessed here.